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"She was also a great sportsperson and super-qualified - she was an accountant and had a medical degree."

Ms Pert had been on a regular run in Remuera when she was attacked, he said.

"She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Family of Ms Pert travelled to Auckland yesterday and met police investigating her death.

A friend of the family said: "It's unreal ... they don't have the answers, all they have is a broken heart."

Ms Pert, an avid runner who had competed in a number of marathon events, is survived by two children - a daughter, aged six, and a seven-year-old son. The children were last night in their grandparents' care.

A 24-year-old Mount Roskill man handed himself in to police on Thursday, and appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday morning charged with Ms Pert's murder.

The accused was granted name suppression, and was remanded in custody until his next appearance in the High Court in Auckland on January 27.

Ms Pert, a student, lived in central Auckland and was on a regular run through Remuera when she was attacked in Shore Rd.

In a statement yesterday afternoon, police said the family met with Detective Inspector Kevin Hooper and staff from the homicide investigation team.

Mr Hooper said: "Our sympathies are obviously with Joanne's family and friends and we are committed to making every effort to ensure a robust prosecution is achieved."

A friend of Ms Pert, Dr Rona Wang, said she was a "kind and gentle person". "She was so very kind and beautiful - a very intelligent woman with much knowledge. She was a great mum to her daughter and son ... I am thinking of her family."

Ms Pert was allegedly attacked with a weapon and collapsed on the front lawn of a house where the occupants of the property found her.